January 22, 2021
In the first concrete action shown by the new Arab relationship with Israel, the Israeli, UAE and Bahraini ambassadors to the United States appeared together and said any new nuclear deal with Iran should forbid it from any uranium enrichment.
Yousef al-Otaiba, Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa and Ron Dermer, the ambassadors of the UAE, Bahrain and Israel to the US, respectively, laid out a united policy against Iran during a virtual discussion hosted by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington-based policy institute.
They said the incoming administration of President Biden will have “a lot of leverage” over Tehran and should not squander that by simply returning to the 2015 nuclear deal.
Otaiba complained that “the voices of the region” had not been represented at the negotiations that produced the JCPOA. “Let’s look at how to strengthen it and not cede all the leverage that you have upfront. Let’s strengthen the US diplomatic team and bring in your regional partners who tend to be aligned on this.”
He also questioned the need for Iran to be allowed to enrich uranium, saying, “I think the best way to prevent a country that you have security concerns about reaching an enrichment level that is dangerous and getting up to weapons-grade, is to not have an enrichment cycle.”
The Bahraini envoy said he hopes the new US administration will recognize that “Iran’s malign activities and ballistic missile capabilities are equally as troublesome to Iran’s neighbors as its nuclear program is.”
“Any return to the JCPOA should take into consideration the concerns of Iran’s neighbors, including the Persian Gulf and Israel,” the Bahraini envoy added.
The Israeli envoy said, “Israel and the Arab states are on the same page … when it comes to Iran. I think that means something, and hopefully, we can engage in that dialogue with the new Biden Administration and hopefully find that common ground moving forward.”